


about the bony elbows

by magisterequitum



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7443208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magisterequitum/pseuds/magisterequitum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things Lance Also Knows Now But No One Else Does:</p><p>Keith has no upper lip and he can't really kiss and his lips are dry and cracked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	about the bony elbows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nighimpossible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighimpossible/gifts).



> space kisses? kisses in space. 
> 
> Pretty much the entire reason for this and wanting to explore moody teenage boys stuck in space and Lance's homesickness. 
> 
> Set some time after episode 7 before the end of the season.

Lance can't find Keith. 

It'd be more of an actual problem if he needed the asshole for an emergency, or a mission, or whatever, but he can't find him and it's bothering him. 

Which is kind of an understatement. That Keith's bothering him. Keith's always bothered, bothering, him. From the first day at the garrison, to forming Voltron, to right fucking now because Lance can't find him. 

The asshole owes him some answers. 

If only he could find him. 

 

 

There are things Lance knows about Keith. Some he knew Before and some he knows Now because space may be huge and endless but a flying castle only lets them play avoidance for so long. 

Before being Before Voltron and evil aliens and saving everyone and Now being, you know, _now_ with the Voltron and evil aliens and saving everyone. 

Pidge tells him he can't actually use that as a measurement of anything real, but Hunk agrees with him. It's just easier to keep it straight that way. Before and Now. Categorizing things helps him process. 

Like how there are ' **Things He Knew Before** ': 

Keith has a mullet. 

Keith is an asshole who won't talk to anyone else in their class. 

Keith wastes being first and everyone says he walked out into the desert. 

And then ' **Things He Knows Now** ':

Keith's mullet lives on even though they've been in space and shouldn't it have grown out by now? 

Keith's still kind of an asshole but one who wormed his way into Lance's existence and who saved his life maybe; if Lance can't remember, doesn't that mean it doesn't count?

(aren't you supposed to remember the important things in your life, aren't you supposed to keep all of that in your head, aren't you supposed to always know the lines on your mother's face and your sisters' smiles, aren't you supposed to _remember_ , aren't you?)

Keith finds them again in the desert and he does waste his spot; but aren't they all more than the boys they were on Earth? 

 

 

There's an abundance of time in space because it's all meaningless and so empty.

Space is freedom and dreams and fear and hope. 

Space is vast and almost _too much_.

Lance doesn't like to stay too long on the command deck. At first he'd loved looking out the windows at the stars and planets and blackness. It'd been all he'd dreamed of. He doesn't do it as much lately. Some of the magic has worn off lately. 

His brain already hasn't ever been _still_. Staring out the panes into the universe makes it worse. When he was a kid, his mamá could never keep him in one place for long. She said he gave her hell as soon as he learned to crawl, wanting to go everywhere, touch everything, play with everything at once. He never made the best grades in school or the academy because it was just so hard to focus on thing at a time. He didn't have a problem showing his skills in practicum though. 

When Allura isn't putting them all through seemingly never ending trainings, Lance is left with bruises and his own thoughts. 

Time in space becomes nothing real.

Pidge tries to keep track, but the tick marks stop after a while. None of the rest of them bother to keep up with it after. Instead they have moments and memories and simulations and missions. The seven of them, plus the mice, slowly replace Earth and the faces they left behind.

It feels so long ago that Lance was a cadet.

It feels so long ago that Lance was just a boy trying to be someone else and dreaming of being a pilot. 

It feels so long ago that Lance was confused and mad about so many things. 

It feels so long ago--

 

 

 **Things Lance Also Knows Now But No One Else Does** :

Keith has no upper lip and he can't really kiss and his lips are dry and cracked. 

Keith also is missing and Lance can't find him. 

 

 

Well maybe others know that. 

Lance doesn't, like, keep up with Keith every waking minute. He just knows some things about him. Not a lot. 

But Lance figures that Keith isn't actually walking around surprise kissing the rest of the Voltron crew or Allura or, _Dios mio_ , Coran. 

He scrunches his face up in horror at that last thought. 

"What's that look for?" 

"Nothing!" Lance shouts, blinking and realizing he's zoned off in the kitchen in front of Hunk. His brain, never staying settled again, and getting him into trouble. "Uh," he gropes for the spoon in front of him and shoves a mouthful of whatever Hunk's been down here making into his mouth. "It's good."

Hunk narrows his eyes, furrowed forehead calling Lance a liar. "Yeah," he drags out the word. "That's why you looked grossed out. If you don't like it just say it. Or eat the goo."

Lance does not want to eat goo, thanks, not when his best friend can actually cook and make edible things with actual flavor. And spices. He wonders if he can get Allura to take them to a planet with spices. A much better mental image. 

He doesn't want to think about Keith kissing Coran. 

He doesn't want to think about Keith kissing anyone. Even him. 

"No, buddy, it's good. Think we can make it hot?" 

 

 

Except all he can think about is Keith kissing him. 

 

 

It happens like this:

Lance crashes Keith's session on the training deck. He's bored and not thinking much on it, other than the fact that he's bored and he likes how he can always get a reaction from Keith. Pidge is working on some boring space radar, and Shiro's being a _leader_ , and well Allura is always telling them to get better and work harder. 

So all in all it's a pretty easy decision to force his way into the simulation and turn it into a sparing session. Red and blue of their bayards spark as they take turns hacking at one another. Lance smiles as every hit only makes Keith's face tighten in irritation. 

Keith doesn't talk much. But there's ways to read him. If you just watch the way his jaw clenches or his fingers in those stupid gloves curl, or the slight snarl at the corner of his mouth. All there if you just look. 

He's laughing when he knocks Keith on his ass, sweat dripping down his nose. His legs hurt, and he bends, taking a knee next to him. He thinks maybe he's about to say "good fall, man", only he's still laughing, so it's more a wheeze than coherency. 

It doesn't matter because Keith pushes himself up before Lance can say what he wants, and then he's moving right into Lance's space. Angry blue eyes and hair damp and stuck to his neck as he puts his mouth on Lance's. 

It's not a very good kiss. 

Lance has kissed people back home. One night back at the garrison he'd even kissed Hunk on a dare; they'd agreed not to talk about it the next morning when they'd finally gotten the taste of stolen hooch out of their mouths. 

Keith kisses like he's never done it before. Or maybe he's just not very good at it. Or maybe it's just too angry. 

Lance doesn't even get to react. All he registers is dry lips on his and the curve of Keith's hand on his knee. 

And then he's gone, leaving him there on the simulation floor like he was the one who got his ass kicked. 

 

 

What kind of asshole does that. 

Kisses you with no explanation, leaves, and then skulks around on a floating castle ship where you can't find them. 

Keith apparently is who. 

Another thing to add to the Things Lance Knows. 

 

 

Keith doesn't show up for the routine evening card game either. 

Whatever, Lance will beat Pidge all on his own. If Shiro would just stop secretly helping them with cards under the table like Lance can't see. Voltron is full of cheaters. 

When the mice help Allura steal the last of his bargain chips, spare metal washers that Hunk and Pidge dug up somewhere on this ship that they keep redeeming to get out of chores, he calls it quits. 

"Cheats," he hisses. " _Eso es trampa._ " 

They just laugh at him and he scoffs. If they'd play by rules he'd win. They cheat as bad as his sisters. That takes the heat out of him and his words, and he waves a dismissive hand over his shoulder as he leaves. The door swishes closed, leaving him alone in the hallway. 

 

 

His thoughts circle back to Keith because he really doesn't want to think about his sisters. 

(his sisters who used to giggle as they teamed up against him, his sisters who would tattle on him to mamá, his sisters who with each whatever time measurement of day up here in space he finds it harder to remember them)

"Alright, asshole," Lance mutters and sets off down the hall. 

 

 

He probably shouldn't be surprised that when he finally does find him, it's in the hangar where all the Lions are stored. They have their own tunnels to get to them, but there's a way to get to the docking bay to all of them. Allura makes them clean the Lions to bond with them at times. Lance likes to clean Blue and tell it stories of Earth. He's not sure if Blue understands, but the gentle purring and nudge against his mind lets him know his Lion listens at least. 

Maybe Keith talks to his Lion too. Guess it's easier to talk to something that can't use words back than the actual people you're fighting along side. The desert may have screwed Keith up in too many ways to think straight on. 

Lance wonders sourly for a moment if Keith is up here kissing his Lion too. A ridiculous stupid thought, but Lance doesn't always have the best of them, and he's still annoyed. 

Which is how when he rounds the corner and sees Keith sitting on the Red Lion's paw, he doesn't think, just snarls out, "Hey, _pendejo_." 

Keith's back straightens from the relaxed curve it was, but there's no recognition of the curse word as to what it is other than a slight narrowing of his eyes at tone. "What?"

 _What?_ as if none of the simulation room even happened, or as if they're on the command deck taking lessons from Allura and Coran. 

"What," Lance says and his voice rises in volume to maybe a screech level if Hunk were around to call him on it. " _What?!_ "

Keith blinks those stupid blue eyes at him as he gets closer and closer to the paw. He's technically shorter than Lance by a few inches, and up on the Red Lion's paw he's looking down, but somehow it doesn't matter much. There's a tautness in the lines of his body underneath his jacket. As if he wants to bolt at any chance he can take. 

Tough shit. Like hell Lance is letting him slip away again. He won't find him for too many of Allura's ticks now that Keith knows Lance has figured out where he goes. 

Lance's sneakers bang against the Red Lion's paws and he climbs right on up, fingers scrambling for holding. Falling on his ass might defeat this gesture. "What," he repeats again, grunting as he heaves himself over so he's kneeling in front of Keith. "You're the one who kissed me, asshole." 

He doesn't curse in Spanish this time. Instead he uses English so Keith understands him. 

"Oh." One small syllable. Keith's eyebrows furrow together. 

"That's it? That's all you've got to say?"

Keith grimaces, mouth twisting in an unflattering way for someone with dry lips and no upper lip. "What, you want me to say sorry?"

Lance huffs, exhaling and then snapping back, "Are you?"

Keith takes a pause, eyes holding his in some sort of mental game that neither one of them really knows the rules to. "No."

This conversation is the longest Lance has gotten out of Keith one on one since they joined Team Voltron. He cocks his head to the side and hums. 

"I wanted to," Keith spits out through gritted teeth, as if the confession is something that pains him. A victory point to Lance if he's keeping track. 

He's always holding score against Keith. Garrison grades, simulation wins, mission runs, and now kisses apparently. 

The answer stuns Lance a bit. He hadn't been expecting that. It makes him stop and think why he's been so annoyed. The frustration seeps out of him. He scrunches his nose and says, slowly, realizing something, "Then why'd you leave?"

Keith's mouth relaxes and a red flush steals over his face. The blush extends down his neck, beyond the collar where his shirt covers his chest. Another point to him. Lance wants to know more. Space is really screwing with his head. 

Shrugging, Keith doesn't answer in spoken words. He grunts and curves his hands inward towards his elbows, crossing his arms. 

Lance hums and shifts to plop himself down beside Keith so he's braced against the joint of the Red Lion's leg too. If he wanted to be a dick he could draw it out further. He could make Keith talk about it. He'll wait a bit, he decides. He might not have gotten words, but he got an answer that's good enough to make his stomach swoop the same way Keith's blushing. Instead, he knocks his knee against Keith's and tosses his chin towards the hanger's roof. "Okay. But next time I'm kissing you." 

The stiffness in Keith's shoulders relaxes into something that's more of a bristle, like an ornery cat. Better than him looking like he wanted to run. His tone stays flat as he says, "Next time."

"Yeah," Lance slants his eyes over to Keith, watching for a reaction for the rest of his sentence. "You kind of suck at it."

"Oh fuck-"

"-it's okay, with me I'll teach you right. I'm an expert myself."

They squabble sitting there and it's better than the rest of the team playing cards, or trying to remember Earth. Here is solid, here he can commit to memory Keith's red flushed face, and here he can know. He can just add it to the list.


End file.
